Salaries in Germany: Official statistics, salary tables for the year 2024
Learn about official salary data in Germany, the minimum wage, average salaries in the country, year-on-year changes, as well as taxes and deductions from salaries. We have prepared salary tables by professions and data on salaries across European countries.
§ Minimum salary rate in Germany as of 2024, 2023
Since 2015, the law on the minimum wage/salary rate (Mindestlohngesetz, BGBl. I S. 1348) has been in force throughout Germany. The initial minimum rate was 8.50 euros per 1 hour of work.
Thus, every employee in Germany, with some exceptions, is entitled to a statutory minimum salary. This law also regulates the deadline for the payment of salaries, namely: the salary shall be paid to the employee at the agreed time, but not later than the last working banking day in the month following the month, in which the work was performed.
The overall minimum wage in Germany today, on 09.12.2024 is 12.41 euros gross per hour.
(Established by the Minimum Wage Commission)
You can find more information about the minimum wage in Germany on a separate page of our website:
- Size of the minimum wage in Germany
- Minimum wage in Germany by production sectors.
- Exceptions to the minimum wage
- Changes in the minimum wage over the years
- Monitoring compliance with the minimum wage, penalties for violations
- Minimum wage by German states
- Minimum wage for mini-jobs
- Does the minimum wage apply to foreign workers?
- Minimum wage in European countries
§ Average salary in Germany
The average salary rate in Germany is not established by law; it varies depending on a range of factors, which include: the land(federated state) or region of Germany, level of education, size of enterprise, industry, gender, and some other factors, which are discussed below on this page.
The average gross salary in Germany for full-time employment is 4105 euros per month as of april 2022.
(According to the Federal Statistical Office)
Data on the average gross salary of full-time workers in Germany is published by the Federal Statistical Office. The German federal government annually determines the average gross salary for the past year and the preliminary average salary for the next year, which forms the basis for calculations in the pension insurance system. For more details on these data, you can visit a separate page on our website titled "Average Salary in Germany":
- Current average salary in Germany
- Average gross salary in Germany
- Average net salary in Germany
- Average salary in Germany over the years
- Average salary in European countries
§ Gross-net salary, deductions from salary
Gross salary is the accrued employee wage including bonuses, subsidies, and allowances to the salary, from which taxes and social contributions have not yet been deducted. Net salary is the employee's wage that they actually receive from the employer, usually deposited into their bank account.
The employer deducts various taxes and contributions to social funds from the employee's salary, primarily income tax and contributions to health and pension insurance. We have prepared a detailed list of deductions from an employee's salary in Germany in percentages and a calculation in euros based on examples.
From the gross salary of the employee, the employer withholds income tax, contributions to social insurance, and other levies.
Payroll tax in Germany is the tax withheld by the employer from the salaries of employees. Germany applies a progressive income tax rate, meaning that the more a person earns, the higher the tax rate applied to their income. The amount of income tax is influenced by the state-established tax-free income and the tax class of the employee. You can find more information about this through the following links:
- Payroll tax rates
- Payroll tax allowances
- Calculation of payroll tax
- Payroll tax for foreign workers
- What is a tax class?
- List of tax classes
Detailed information on "Deductions from Salary in Germany" can be found on separate pages of our website:
- Gross and net salary
- List of deductions
- Calculation examples
- Contribution limits
- Taxes in salary
- Social contributions
§ Wages increase index in Germany, change in real and nominal salaries
Table 1 below, as well as the following charts, shows the change in German wages rates by year. Two indices are presented as indicators of changes in the amount of wages: the Real Wage Index (Ger.: Reallohnindex) and the Nominal Wage Index (Ger.: Nominallohnindex). Both indices represent the percentage change in wages/salaries in relation to the year taken as a basis of 100%.
Nominallohnindex - is a % change in salaries compared to the year taken as the base year.
Reallohnindex - is the Nominallohnindex adjusted for the consumer price change index, i.e. it reflects a real increase in salaries.
Table 1: Change in monthly gross salaries in Germany by year
Calendar year | Salary, in euros | Reallohnindex, as % | Nominallohnindex, as % |
---|---|---|---|
april 2022 | 4'105.00 | ||
2021 | 4'100.00 | 104.0 | 113.2 |
2020 | 3'975.00 | 104.1 | 110.1 |
2019 | 3'994.00 | 105.3 | 110.9 |
2018 | 3'880.00 | 104.1 | 108.0 |
2017 | 3'771.00 | 102.8 | 104.9 |
2016 | 3'703.00 | 101.8 | 102.3 |
2015 | 3'612.00 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
2014 | 3'527.00 | 97.7 | 97.4 |
2013 | 3'449.00 | 95.9 | 94.8 |
Chart 1. Salary change indices by year
Talk about raising wages at an enterprise in Germany
In Germany, it is considered normal to talk with the boss and immediate supervisor about a salary increase. CEOs are ready for such conversations and expect them.
§ Salaries of men and women, comparison of salaries by year
In the following Table 2, a comparison is made between the salaries of men and women in Germany.
Table 2: Comparison of average salaries of men and women in Germany
Calendar year | Salary of men, euros per month | Salary of women, euros per month | Difference, euros |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 4'275.00 | 3'699.00 | 576.00 |
2020 | 4'146.00 | 3'578.00 | 568.00 |
2019 | 4'181.00 | 3'559.00 | 622.00 |
2018 | 4'075.00 | 3'432.00 | 643.00 |
2017 | 3'964.00 | 3'330.00 | 634.00 |
2016 | 3'898.00 | 3'258.00 | 640.00 |
2015 | 3'810.00 | 3'161.00 | 649.00 |
2014 | 3'728.00 | 3'075.00 | 653.00 |
2013 | 3'645.00 | 3'007.00 | 638.00 |
As can be seen from Table 2 above, in 2021, women on average earned less than 576.00 euros per month, which makes a difference of 13.5%. Over the past few years, the wage gap between men and women has been gradually decreasing.
§ Salaries by profession - a catalogue of professions and average salaries in Germany
What follows is a directory of salaries information by occupation in Germany. To go to information about salaries by profession, click on the following links.
- salary of accountants
- salary of airmen
- salary of architects
- salary of babysitters
- salary of brokers, realtors, intermediaries
- salary of builders
- salary of coal miners, mineworkers
- salary of cooks, kitcheners
- salary of doctors, nurses, surgeons, dentists
- salary of drivers, truckers, couriers
- salary of economists, financiers, bankers, insurers
- salary of electricians
- salary of engineers, technologists, engineers
- salary of florists, gardeners, horticulturists, flower gardeners
- salary of hairdressers, cosmeticians
- salary of housewives, governesses
- salary of janitors, cleaners
- salary of librarians, archivists, museum workers
- salary of loaders
- salary of locksmiths
- salary of managers, executives, managers, directors
- salary of massage therapists
- salary of musicians, painters, artists, cultural figures
- salary of nurses, social workers, hospital attendants, of the care personnel
- salary of photographers
- salary of police officers, firemens, security guards, judges
- salary of postmen
- salary of programmers, IT-specialists
- salary of seamstresses, tailors, shoemakers, leather workers
- salary of salespeople/ sales personnel, cashiers
- salary of signalmen, radio operators, telephone operators
- salary of teachers , teachers, educators, coaches, tutors
- salary of translators, interpreters and translators
- salary of turners, Millers, grinders
- salary of watchmakers, horologists
- salary of welders
- salary of workers, laborers
Footnotes:
- The EUR exchange rate in the tables is taken as of 01 march 2022 and amounts to 1.06 USD or 0.83 GBP at the European Central Bank exchange rate. The EUR, USD and GBR exchange rates in Germany
Information sources
RU-GELD.DE Team
Last updated:
Salaries in Germany
- Salaries in Germany: Official statistics, salary tables
- Average wages in the EU countries
- Germany payroll taxes and duties
- German average wages by profession
- Average wages in Germany in 2024 per month in USD, GBP and euros
- Minimum Wage in Germany
- Minijob in Germany: Salary, Deductions from Salary
- Tax Classes in Germany
- Deductions from Salaries in Germany, Gross-Net Salary
- Bonuses, Supplements, and Allowances to Salaries in Germany
- Related topics:
- Minimum pension in Germany
- German labour law
- Permit to stay and work in Germany
- How to find a job in Germany
- Employment assistance in Germany
- Free German language courses in Germany